Sebina village still underdeveloped

ISAAC PINIELO
Correspondent | Friday September 3, 2010 00:00

But the village, which falls in the Tutume Sub-District as well as the Tonota North constituency, is still underdeveloped.  Except for the post office, the primary school and the clinic, residents in this village rely on Tutume for most services and at times they are forced to travel to Francistown for other amenities.

There is no police station in the village and more serious cases that cannot be handled by the customary courts are often referred to the Tutume Police.  The village has only has one junior secondary school whose graduates go to Mc Connel Secondary School in Tutume.

Internal roads and streets that go through the village are still as dusty as ever and from the look of things, they might not be upgraded any time soon.  The most recent infrastructural developments that are visible in the village are offices for the main kgotla and the Sebina-Marobela road that were completed early this year.

The other problem that this village has is the high unemployment rate, which has led many villagers to engage in the government drought relief programme of Ipelegeng.

VDC chairman, Immanuel Mathambo, has expressed his concern about the underdevelopment of the village.  He indicated that some residents who reside along the newly constructed Sebina-Marobela road face an acute shortage of water, despite the village's proximity to Ntimbale Dam.  He, however, said he was hoping that the problem would be addressed by the end of the year.  Also, Mathambo said there are many people who have not been connected to water due to the takeover of the Water Affairs department by the Water Utilities Corporation (WUC).  He said a lot of projects that were earmarked for Sebina village were shelved due to the infamous economic recession.  One woman said ever since she has been a resident of Sebina she has never seen any major transformation to the village, despite it having existed for so many years.  'As you can see, there are no developments here.  Politicians often make promises, which they never deliver.  This village has been behind in developments and villages like Tati Siding have now surpassed it though they came recently,' said 42-year-old Shathiso Chimbisi.

The other area that irks residents is the health system, which is said to be very poor.  There is only one clinic in the village and it caters for the entire Sebina village, with a population of about 5,000 people.  The clinic also attends to patients from other surrounding villages like Makuta, Marapong, Kotamogore, Matsitama, Matenge, Makaleng, Marobela and Nshakashogwe.It has a maternity ward and a unit for dispensing antiretroviral (ARV) drugs and is often manned by four nurses, a doctor, a pharmacist and two cleaners.  Ironically, the clinic has no basic equipment like thermometers, oxygen machines and even patients' cards.

There is only one vehicle that is used as an ambulance, but it does not have first aid equipment and stretchers.  A nurse who opted for anonymity revealed that the vehicle is also seldom serviced, which makes it unroadworthy.

Principal registered nurse, Marina Tlhalerwa, admitted that the clinic has a serious shortage of staff, drugs and equipment.  She says the number of patients who come with ill-defined conditions, mostly from Sebina and other catchment areas, often overburden the clinic.

She added that the clinic does not operate on a 24-hour basis, which makes their job difficult.  'People think that we are not doing our job and some think we refuse to help them when it is after hours.  It seems they do not understand that we only attend to emergencies when it is after 4:30pm,' said Tlhalerwa.

Because of the pressure they have, the nurse said, there is a need for a laboratory technician who will be responsible for the collection of blood and a pharmacist who will be responsible for ARV dispensation.  She also accentuated the need for other health posts in the village to ease the pressure exerted on the main clinic.

'The main clinic should be changed to a 24-hour clinic as long as there is an increment of staff that shall be working on day and night shifts,' she appealed.

The other problem that Sebina is also faced with is the high unemployment rate, which is often attributed to crime in the village.  Magdeline Cholo (22) and Mosamaria Sephekolo (20) are some of the youth in the village who have been struggling after completing their junior secondary school without getting jobs.  'I once worked at the Pandamatenga farms, but quit the job because it was heavy and I only earned P300 in a month,' said Sephekolo.

Cholo also revealed that they are living in poverty despite the government having promised to alleviate poverty in the country.  She appealed for the creation of employment so that they could lead normal lives like any other citizen of this country.  This state of events also worries the village Sub-Tribal Authority, Kgosi Kgakanyane Majaga Sebina.

He told Mmegi in an interview that he is not amused by the state of events in his village. 'We have a very big problem of theft, especially that of children that steal from their parents,' he said.  He said the residents revealed in a recent meeting that livestock thieves who stole their cattle and goats from kraals were harassing them.  He said there are also some cases of house and shop break-ins, but said since they have formed a crime prevention cluster committee he was hoping that the situation would get better.

He noted that there are a lot of home-brewed beers in his village, which he says are the main causes of criminal activities in the village.  He has appealed to the government to formulate laws that regulate brewing of beer at homes saying that some of these brews are not good for people's health.  Councillor for Sebina, Mogomotsi Lemogang has also decried the lack of development in the village saying that the government always makes empty promises to the people 'just because they want to be voted into power'.

He said for a long time, Sebina residents have been promised that there would be a police station in their village, but up to now that has not happened.  He said even most of the development plans that have been made before the recession have also become a pipeline, noting that he is surprised that other villages like Mmadinare, Palapye and Serowe are continuing to get developed.